February 21, Colombo (LNW): We realized how dangerous rugby is in Sri Lanka with the death of Thajudeen. He was a player who represented Sri Lanka’s ‘A’ sports clubs. A very talented player. No one competed for him with a black belt. There was no two-minute silence before the matches started. No one stood on the road, holding up a sign to commemorate the fate of their comrade. Some may have been silently reflecting on how dangerous it is to strike your head against hard black rocks, while Some might have even thought about leaning against those black rocks and feeling comfortable.
That was because the game was overshadowed by the political noise surrounding the group suspected of being involved in Thajudeen’s murder, and their obsession with silencing others.
They also had the ability to leverage their diplomatic connections and garner more and more support both domestically and internationally. When Namal Rajapaksa became the Sports Minister of this country, we thought he would take big steps to promote his sport, rugby. But instead of supporting the current administration, he added his name to history. What he did was to bring rugby into disrepute internationally, to compensate for that crime by cutting funding for rugby development in this country, and to create an advisory council to put the administration under his control, by appointing the person who could have taken responsibility in Asia without an investigation, since the law was not enforced under his father’s government. Through existing state relations, with the blessing of the president’s cousin, and the son of the former president and then prime minister, the Asia President, he showed the way that Sri Lanka should have its own preferred rugby.
The social suspicion that challenges them within a criminal mechanism that is not limited to these crimes, at least creating resentment and threatening to say “I know everything” is considered an act that will not be allowed to be spoken about again has not yet been removed.
It is doubtful how a government that came to power with a social criticism that arose from understanding its depth and evil ideas and using that as one of the reasons, can still be blessed to maintain the rugby shape in a Rajapaksa-style form.
It is becoming clear that such operations are hanging in interesting places everywhere. Some of those who have left the Rajapaksa network, not in the spirit of last-minute departures, may have come with the desire to protect it. But the less experienced sometimes touch on these with the heavy words sown by officials about separate severe official responsibility, and not from real practicality. Officials are very capable of breeding these to ministers. The former Ombudsman informed the Director General in July 2024 that it was worth investigating the worst tragedy in rugby history. He must also have known about some of the facts. At the time of this incident, the Immigration and Emigration Commissioner was in office and not only the Director General but also the then Secretary to the Ministry was informed. If it is said that this was not informed, it is worth examining the letters that arrived from the Ombudsman’s office to the offices of the Director General and the Ministry Secretary on July 4th and 5th.
These events are very clear. They are planned. They may have been done from a distance that the minister cannot see. Accordingly, the chief executive of the administration related to the biggest rugby tragedy will have to be brought to the chairman of the National Sports Advisory Council by the minister.
Those who were in every sports body that caused a lot of damage by carrying forward the actions of the Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa have come and taken their seats again with the responsibility of advising. In order to ensure the obedience of the sports clubs in that category, which have not seriously affected the player who played within their circle since the murder of Thajudeen, a constitutional change that will transfer more of the burden of the rugby mechanism to them is being made in accordance with international demands, disregarding the judicial agreements of Sri Lanka.
There is also something to think about. Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s naval exploits are a very well-known story. The current Director General, who was at the top of the Navy at that time, had no desire or feeling to oppose any of the privileges he received. It is not that there are not those in the army who have gone off duty due to some wrongdoings and returned to hold high positions. For example, Shani Abeysekara, who was summoned to the police at this moment with great confidence, can be taken. Therefore, as an officer who knows the formula for achieving his immediate goal by being flexible and working more flexibly to politics or appearing to be so, the Director General has been able to gain the trust of three Sports Ministers in this limited history as a close officer.
The Minister does not understand the need to continue the responsibility of changing rugby with an international face and influence under the old constitution, even if the court says so, as a result of not reading the source and not experiencing it in practice. Even if so, when the local rugby administration, which is doing business with the international community, goes to the constitutional amendment with decisions taken on matters that affect the destructive present of rugby in Sri Lanka, many of those who are trying to protect it by amending the constitution without going to an election at this moment may not even have the opportunity to stay in rugby again.
But everything is happening and the minister is also holding that he believes that he has to believe that he has to believe that we are not clear about what poison has been fed to us. But it will be more credible than the risk of our lives. We do not hesitate to accept the risk. It is the witnesses of a history that we have experienced. Once, in an incident that raised suspicions of being chased and kidnapped, this writer and Priyan R. Wijebandara came forward on behalf of Sanath Balasuriya. The result was that the famous white van transport service came after us. Since there was a loving heart in Keells on Marine Drive, we were allowed to hide in it for a while.
But our friends and family, like us, were victims of this brutal political invasion. They challenged it knowing it better than us. They gave us the knowledge and practice of giving meaning to life for people who continue to live in the face of signs of death. Before our friend Poddala Jayantha was brutally attacked, he came to our office for discussions and before leaving, we were so scared that we asked, “Is there anything wrong, man? Can you go?” The ‘Poddala’s’ courage showed us the way to take them with a light smile and engage in their practice. In such a way, when we realize that many media friends who were victims, while fulfilling their responsibility, did not waste time on the terrifying shadows of death that followed them, and even reduced our meetings for a moment to keep our lives safe, we know that in a society that sees sports as a game, its socio-political impact and the scope of its potential for spread are enormous. Therefore, when looking at political history, it will be felt that the need to bring foreigners who were fined £50,000 to play sports in Sri Lanka is similar to topics such as the money flowing into sports clubs and the Hambantota Commonwealth Games.
Therefore, knowing the danger and its fear, we will not allow ourselves to be silenced. We do not know whether the Sports Minister, as a man who does not maintain this silence, has completed the struggle exercise that he agreed to at the first moment after assuming power. However, it must be said that wreaths are unnecessary on a day when we are silenced when the truth is not spoken due to the opportunity given to lies.
Having concluded that Thajudeen died on Park Road from injuries sustained when his car was involved in an accident, caught fire, and some of the equipment in the car struck his body like blunt weapons, leaving aside grief for his comrade, there is no protest against the team that is trying to improve the entire sport by surrounding people who are happy with the accused, only a sense of disappointment that has been completely shattered.
*Adapted from original article, “රගර් සෙල්ලමේ අවදානම සහ ගලන අතට පිහිනීම සිඳු නොකිරීමේ අවදානම” by Nishman Ranasinghe published on 21/02/2025.
